Huawei unveils the foldable 5G-Mate X smartphone from $ 2,600

Huawei officially announced today the Mate X, the long-rumored smartphone that can offer 5G speeds, and is currently targeted at people who want to have a better experience, such as: B. Watch movies on the go.

Huawei unveiled the Mate X for Reporters yesterday in a preview session today followed by the launch event. The fanfare will take place on the eve of MWC Barcelona 19, the massive telecoms fair that officially kicks off on Monday.

The unveiling of the Mate X appears a few days after an event by rival Samsung, which folded its own 5G folding galaxy smartphone. Foldable phones are expected to be one of the big topics at MWC Barcelona 19, as the industry is looking for the next groundbreaking idea to reignite the slump in mobile phone sales.

Yesterday, Huawei reporters have tried in brief remarks to exploit the benefits. The company has a message in the development of next generation products for 5G networks, which also includes a subtle impact in countries where it matters the company's products should be banned for security reasons.

"Huawei is in a unique position," said Peter Gauden, a global product marketing manager at Huawei. "We make the 5G chips. We manufacture the smartphones. We manufacture telecommunication equipment for freight forwarders. We have the ability to test 5G products internally on 5G networks. This gives us a big advantage. "

As the world's leading provider of telecommunications equipment, Huawei has also made great efforts in the consumer sector in recent years, introducing laptops and developing upmarket smartphones. In the global sale of smartphones, it is now in second place behind Samsung and before Apple, even if it has not been able to open up the US market in a meaningful way. At today's launch event, Richard Yu, CEO of Huawei Consumer Business Group, pointed out that the company sold four times as many laptops in 201

8 as it did in 2017.

As for smartphones, Huawei has its own launch event for late March in Paris, where it is expected to announce the new version of its real flagship mobile phone. The Mate X will go on sale in June, Yu said, acknowledging that the device is far from becoming a mainstream product due to the introduction of 5G networks.

More problematic At the end of his presentation, Yu somewhat embarrassingly revealed the starting price of the Mate X: unbelievable € 2299 or $ 2,600. Yu said there is still a lot of work to do on the technology to cut costs and work with carriers to prepare them for regular use.

In fact, the Mate X is most likely meant to cause a stir

"What we are going to introduce to you today is truly revolutionary because we are breaking two conventions," Gauden said yesterday. "It's the future of design and the future of technology."

The Huawei Mate X

When folded, it has a 6.6-inch main screen as a standard smartphone display. On the back of the phone is a second display of 6.38 inches.

This second ad was referred to by the company as "Selfie" because you can now use, among other things, the main cameras to take pictures of themselves, while also seeing the picture settings on that second screen instead of relying on them Leave the less powerful front camera to ensure the perfect duck face. The Mate X promises that humanity can do more than ever before.

This bar, which runs alongside the selfie screen, is another characteristic decision. Huawei speaks of an "ergonomic curvature", which holds the device well in the unfolded state. While the phone folds flat on both sides, the handle is designed so that the unfolded device can be easily held with one hand.

In the holder is also housed the 3-camera system, which was developed in collaboration with Leica.

When unfolded, the Mate X has an 8-inch tablet OLED display and is 5.4mm thick and only slightly thinner than the latest iPad Pro. The folding mechanism calls the company the Falcon Wing Hinge design. The photo above shows the series of bumps running along the side of the device.

Inside the phone are the Huawei processors Balong 5000 and Kirin 980. The company claims that this speeds 10 times as fast as 4G phones and more than the 2 provides the official industry standard for 5G. In practical terms, this means you can download a 1GB movie in three seconds, according to Huawei

Finally, are in the phone two batteries (one in each half) for a total of 4500 mAh (battery life). The charge is 55 watts, so you can charge 85 percent of the battery in 30 minutes. The Mate X also allows two SIM cards.